My Tall Man
by Spike the Dragoniod
Summary: Echo met Slender when she was a little girl, he was her only friend. But when she was seven she moved away. After twelve years and an abduction, Echo is on a cliff at the edge of the woods rumored to be the Slenderman's new hunting ground. I'm only going to write more if it is wanted. My first Slender fanfiction, may or may not be a romance, depends on how I feel later on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so I tried really hard not to join the Slenderman fandom like this, but I failed, then I tried not to write fanfiction for it, I failed. So this is what I've got so far. How long it will be depends on how you readers react to it. I've noticed that there isn't a lot of fanfiction for it, maybe its just a rare fandom to write for or people aren't brave enough it write for it. But I have read and enjoyed several fanfictions and I decided to try my hand at it. I hope you all enjoy, so maybe I can write more. And I'm trying to determine whether it should be a romance or not, if you want to give me your opinion, just leave a review or PM me. I don't own Slender but I do own Echo.  
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You know that scene from Pocahontas when that jerk Native American gets shot and he grabs Pocahontas' necklace and it breaks as he falls to the ground? Yeah, well something similar happened to me, only the necklace didn't break, and I fell too, off a cliff. The necklace was given to me by a powerful being, the only way it's coming off is if I take it off, no 'breaks at a freaking fly pulling at it' crap. .

The guy that pulled me off a cliff was a villain, the jerkface abducted me, cops chased us through a bunch of woods and to the edge of what seemed like the world, the cliff was in Washington, standing tall and proud. Some said it was cursed, hundreds of people committed suicide off the cliff. The necklace itself, made of a sturdy string, the charm was a talon clutching a black crystal. The person that gave it to me? A very old being, most people say he's evil. I mean he has killed people, lots of people, but I don't say he's evil.

I was a little girl when I first met him. He saved me from falling out of a tree, well, I fell out of a tree, and he caught me. At first I was scared, he was a little creepy, with no face, really tall, wore a black suit and a red tie, white shirt underneath. His arms went past his knees. People call him the Slenderman. I called him the Tall Man. He was my only friend really. I was five. But when I was seven, Dad and I moved away. I remembered how hard I cried, I fought and screamed so I could stay with my Tall Man. He just watched from the tree line. Those tendrils of his drooping sadly, running the length of the ground. I had never seen him so sad. That made it worse. I wanted to be his friend and make him happy.

You see, the thing was, my abductor, he took me to the same woods rumored for the Slenderman's hunting ground. I knew he would either kill me, seeing I was the age of his prey now and that he may not recognize me, despite my necklace, or Tall Man would save me. Or, I would save myself. Which I did, sort of. We broke the tree line, I didn't see the familiar face or shadow in the woods, so I was losing hope that Tall Man would find us. Tony (that was his name) shoved me to the ground.

"Alright, you pull another stunt like that, I will shoot you! You hear me!" He spat, pulling out his gun and jabbing it into my temple. I heard the roar of the ocean, how far down was it? Could I jump to escape?

_Tall Man, now would be a great time to show up, even if you do kill me, I'd rather it be you than him. No joke, old buddy._ I thought as Tony went to the edge of the cliff. I saw a large rock a few feet to my left. My eyes darted to my abductor. He was staring out over the ocean. I decided against the rock and just stood and bolted at him. He turned right as I shoved him. The lucky bastard got a grip on my necklace; I didn't panic until I realized I was going over with him. I screamed.

"TALL MAN!" I didn't realize I screamed his name. The wind buffeted my face and the salt air blowing aggressively into my eyes made them sting. The water was eagerly awaiting two new victims. I kicked Tony off, if I was going to die like this I wasn't going to die in the grip of that dolt. All of a sudden a warm tendril hooked itself around my waist and I stopped falling with a jerk. I recognized this tendril. My arms instantly went around the appendage as I watched the cold Northern Pacific waters swallow my captor. I looked up, seeing my Tall Man standing on the edge of the cliff, staring down with hidden eyes. He slowly brought me back to the cliff. He set me gently back on the ground waited for me to catch my breath, then knelt, grabbing my necklace in his thin hand he studied it, trying to determine whether I was the girl he saved from falling to her death when she was itsy bitsy.

The claw fell back against my chest and he stood to his full height, the flesh the lower part of his face ripped, revealing a very sharp looking toothy mouth.

"Tell me, Echo, just how many times am I going to have to save you from falling?" He asked, his voice was as soft and warm as ever. It was like distant rolling thunder. I smirked up at him.

"Hopefully that was the last time, Tall Man." I told Slender, standing and brushing myself off. I went back to the edge (not too close) and stared down. The sun was getting higher, basking the world in its morning orange glory. I stared down at the ocean, no sign of him. His handgun rested at my feet. I kicked it over the edge watching it plummet to the water below, remembering all the times that stupid thing had been shoved in my face with a flustered order. "_Get in the car", "Get out of the car", "Pack a bag and say bye-bye to your buddies sweetie, you'll probably never see them again." _

"Good riddance." I muttered, straightening my black fitted t-shirt. Slender was still there, watching. I pulled a little on my white undershirt. I sat back down, feeling strange now. Slender sat beside me, sitting with his legs bent at the knee, arms propped on his legs, right hand gripped his left wrist.

"It's been awhile since we've seen each other." I told him. He slowly nodded.

"It's been twelve years." He told me, his voice sad yet happy at the same time.

"Glad we reunited when we did." I said laughingly. Slender just shook his head.

"I knew you would grow up, but I didn't expect you to be like them." He told me. I look at him full on.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The people I hunt, the ones that come onto my territory and romp about carelessly, leaving those ridiculous pages and sending people just like them in after the papers." He told me. I frowned, giving a huff.

"Am I any less important to you now?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Perfectly normal people that have contact with me can end up like you. There's just something about me that makes people dark." He answered. My frown lightened a little.

"Oh. Where are we exactly?" I asked. "I've been in a trunk for the past few hours." I continued.

"Haven Junction, Washington. A few miles out of it actually, it's the closest town to the woods." He told me. We fell into silence for a few minutes, just watching the sun rise.

"You've moved, Slender." I told him Tall Man looked at me, and scoffed.

"I didn't stay in those woods long after you left. I left the eastern seaboard and came here. Much more plentiful prey." He told me. I nodded, trying to fight the shiver at the thought of his killings.

"Where are you going to go, now, Echo?" He asked. I shrugged. I didn't really have friends, no ties back in Willow, where I lived, my father died when I was seventeen. I never knew my mother. I had emancipated myself and was living comfortably on the fortune that Dad left me.

"Maybe get a place in Haven Junction. Unless you want me to leave. But I don't really feel like going back.." I told Slender. He looked back out to the ocean.

"No, you can stay if you like. It would be nice to have someone that understands me around." He told me. I smiled.

"Great. I'll call a real estate agent back in the other town and I'll have them sell my old place and get an apartment here." I said, standing. Slender looked up at me from the ground. "I really never thought I'd see you again, Tall Man." I told him.


	2. Chapter 2

All Slender knew was that one minute his forest was quiet, then two people entered, one completely enraged, the other terrified. Slender knew there were a man and a female. The female was at about the end of her rope with the man. He had nothing better to do so he stalked the two. He found that actually, despite his obvious fear, it was the man that was in charge, dragging the female by her thick chocolate hair. It was a female, but not a female human, not entirely.

If there was one thing Slender knew about humans, it was that some of them didn't even know that they weren't purebred. Some of them were part Slenderfolk, particularly the females. This was a female fledgling, about nineteen years old. She was about to tear her captor to shreds. She would have if there had been more Slenderbeing in her, she had just a sliver, but it was enough to make her anti-social, enough to make her prefer the company of trees to that of humans. Enough of it in her to make her able to bear Slenderchildren.

The Slenderfolk are a higher form of human, extremely high. They were glorious creatures really, more than the faceless beings that humans perceive. Slenderfolk were great in evolution, but weak in numbers, they were created with far fewer females than males, and a new system had to be created. Humans were seeded with part Slenderfolk children, making mates for the ones without. But the children proved to be hard to find and very hard to convince of what they really were by the time they were old enough to breed. So they had to be taken as children and raised in the Slenderkind community. That was why Slenderfolk took 'human' children. So their race could survive, the children that were taken were not entirely human, but were the fledglings that had been planted throughout humankind.

The human male pushed the fledgling to the ground and slammed a gun against her temple, enraging Slender. That was a potential mate! His basic instincts told him to attack and destroy, devour the man's heart. Slender was stopped. He saw a very familiar necklace hanging to the ground from the girl's neck. Something he hadn't seen in twelve years. A talon clutching a black crystal. Was it Echo? Was it actually the female originally intended for him? Slender watched on as the human male went to the edge of the cliff. Slender shook his head. Stupid dramatic humans. Echo (he would call her that until he discovered if it really was his intended.) eyed a heavy rock next to her. If Slender had physical eyes he would have squinted at her. Echo's bright aquamarine eyes snapped up and she leapt up, running towards her captor.

Slender stepped forward as the human male turned around, at the same moment Echo shoved him over the edge of the cliff. The human male grabbed at her, managing to grab a hold of her necklace and she screamed as she was pulled over the edge with the human male.

"TALL MAN!" That instant Slender knew it was Echo. Now he ran; getting to the edge right as Echo kicked the human male off of her. Slender sent a tendril after her, hooking Echo around the waist and nearly falling over as well trying to stop her fall. Her emotion went right through her, into his tentacle and into him. Slender brought Echo back up to the cliff and set her down, his mind going a million miles an hour. He stopped and looked at her as she knelt, curled in on herself as she sat on her legs. She was breathing hard and scared. Slender softly knelt in front of her and took the pendant in his hand and studied it, looking for any difference in this necklace than the one he gave Echo. With great hidden joy he found none. Slender let the pendant fall back into place then stood slowly, opening his mouth.

"Tell me, Echo, just how many times am I going to have to save you from falling?" He asked, using the same tone of voice he as he did when she was a child. Echo looked up at him with a clever smirk on her face.

"Hopefully that was the last time, Tall Man." She replied sassily.

The two stayed on the cliff for a few minutes, watching the sun rise, chatting pleasantly. Echo then left the woods, Slender escorting her out of the forest and to the car she arrived in. He had been seething when he found that Echo was abducted, but by then he was calm, watching the red tail lights of the car fade into the distance.

She snuggled into the sleeping bag, her furniture from her home in Willow still hadn't arrived; so Echo was on the floor on top of a mass of blankets and comforters and a bunch of pillows, it reminded Slender of a nest. It was about three in the morning though the fledgling had just gotten to bed, her radio was playing classic music very quietly and her fan hummed beside it. She was drifting off to sleep when the radio went staticky, reacting to Slender's entrance into the material world. She sat up groggily, glaring at the clock, and then forcefully smacking it on top. She squealed as Slender gently coiled a tendril around Echo's wrist.

"That won't help, Echo." Slender told her quietly. Echo looked up, barely able to make out his tall form in the darkness of her room. Slender's tentacle was still around her wrist as she reacted to the scent of Slender's last kill came to her senses; he was drawing small invisible patterns with another tendril on the back of her captive hand. He used to do that in the dirt when she was a girl, perhaps trying to get her to realize something, the sooner a fledgling realized what she really was the better.

_He sat against the tree, black tendrils hanging around him attentively as though they had minds of their own and watched the tendril that was pushing the dusty dirt to and fro. He was drawing circles with x's over them absently as a young Echo was drawing squiggles and smiley faces in the ground with a stick. She looked at his blank face. _

_ "Tall Man?" She asked. His mouth appeared as he spoke._

_ "Yes, child?"_

_ "Do you live here in the woods?" Echo asked him. He nodded._

_ "Where?" She continued._

_ "I can't tell you." He replied. The small girl frowned, propping her chin on her hand, pouting a little. She put down her stick and went to play in the creek. Slender didn't have eyes Echo could see, but she knew he was watching her. He knew Echo couldn't swim very well and if she needed help he wanted to know immediately if Echo was in trouble. She thankfully never strayed too deep into the water though._

Slender felt Echo watching him now; he was drawing the same symbol as he had in the dirt on her hand over and over again. It was his symbol, marking her as Slender's. To any other Slenderfolk that might come by they would know Echo was off limits.

"What are you doing?" She asked. The tendrils retreated and he knelt, coming face to face with her, her flesh was sun kissed, light freckles danced across her cheeks and jumped straight from her neck to her slender shoulders.

"Nothing." He told her. He didn't want Echo to know he was literally marking her in the Slenderfolk fashion. Not yet. Soon the hidden instincts that Echo harbored deep inside her genes would rise and send her straight to his arms. But until then Slender would carry on the friendly little relationship the two had when she was a child. Slender found himself wondering why he hadn't just taken her before her father moved her away. Echo had been of age to take. Echo' mother had died giving birth to Echo's half-brother, who later in died as well. Slender knew if he took Echo from her 'father' Slenderfolk would be responsible for taking the last the man had of his wife.

The man that raised Echo was a very good man and that was why the Slenderfolk chose that family to seed. The man was kind and the woman was strong. Echo was watched after very well. Sometimes Slender knew he was too kind to the human. Slenderfolk were superior and there was nothing wrong in taking what had been rightfully his.

Echo watched Slen. He was off in his own mind, sitting against the wall a few feet away from her, his long legs only stopping inches away from her. She switched off her radio, and rested against the mass of pillows she had behind her. Her eyes were heavy and she was weary.

"Slen?" She asked quietly. He looked to her from the carpeted ground.

"Yes, Echo?" He replied. She would never admit it, but his voice had sent chills down her spine ever since they met again a few weeks ago.

"Are you going to stay here for the night or are you going to leave?" Echo inquired. Slender was quiet for a moment.

"I may leave. I do not want to bother you while you sleep." He told her. Echo was already drifting off to sleep.

"Well, you can do what you like. I'm going to go to sleep, good night, Tall Man." She told him softly.

"Good night, Echo, sleep well." He told her just as quietly.

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**A/N: I couldn't find a better word other than 'fledgling.' I think it still gets the point across, but Echo won't grow into a Slenderperson, she'll just stay a hybrid.**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning to find my room empty other than me. I smiled to myself, stretching, giving a groan. I got out of my nest, then switched on the stereo, turning the radio to the local rock channel and going to go take a shower. I stripped my clothes, I wasn't one of those girls that were unhappy with my body, I was sexy and I knew it. I smirked at the thought. But it was strange. I never really felt any attraction to guys, girls neither. Some of my friends would show me pictures of guys they thought were cute in grade school. I never really understood it. I turned on a warm shower and happily jumped in.

I got out of the shower and went back into my room, with a towel wrapped around me and another one wrapped my hair. I picked out an outfit from my walk in closet. I grabbed my purple skinny jeans, a white tank top with a lace tail and a black paint splatter t-shirt and put it on. After that I went into the living room slash kitchen dining room area and bounced over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out the pizza box. I set it on the island and opened the box and ate a few sliced for breakfast.

I grabbed my bag and I went out to the library where I worked. It was just a few blocks away so I walked everywhere I went. I entered the library and went to the desk area, seeing my acquaintance, Lee. She was short, with blond hair, about forty-three, real tech savvy despite her age.

"Hey Lee." I told her, putting my bag down.

"Hello Echo." She replied. I leaned forward and looked at her, she seemed to be a little irritated.

"What's up?" I asked, knitting my brows. She had been typing on the computer, but then squealed and smacked the top of the monitor. I hid my smile.

"The computer was working fine just a few minutes ago. Now it's all squirrelly, just refuses to work properly." I frowned. She slid away from the computer.

"See what you can do with it." She told me, getting up and pushing a cart full of returned books towards the shelves. I slid over to the computer and adjusted the keyboard before I looked at the screen of the monitor. There was a thin curtain of snow on the screen. I recognized it, swiveling in my seat, that only happened when Slender was around. I didn't see him. I pursed my lips and restarted the computer that usually worked. Lee was real smart with computers but she never really stopped and thought about the small things. As the computer started back up the screen was clear and I had succeeded in my temporary task. I leaned back in my seat and greeted the people that entered the library warmly.

The day at the library was uneventful afterwards. Leaving work I walked to the local pizza joint and ordered my usual, pepperoni with extra cheese, I waited for my food, playing on my phone. My order was called and I paid for it and walked home..

I entered the still barren apartment with a distasteful look. I put the pizza on the counter and went to my bedroom and changed into a black spaghetti strap tank top and grey sweat shorts and returned to the living room slash kitchen and dining room area. I opened the pizza box and merrily partook in my beloved pizza. I paused to grab a soda from the fridge and switched on the television, listening to the news as I ate.

"We still have not found the prisoners at the federal jail. Families are demanding information but the only clue that the lead investigators had were a few pointless photos and a completely wrecked prison block. A few guards claimed that there had been screams when they were trying to enter the block." I tuned out the news, knowing that was Slender' doing. When I was a child he told me that some Slenderfolk were punishers of the human race. He was one of them. A high council determined which human sins were worth Slender punishment, such as hurting children, innocent animals, rape, murders. The humans that got off (life sentences or acquittals) were taken care of by Slender's kind. The block that was raided had been people who were given life sentences for murders or rapes. I looked up as static assaulted my ears and saw Slender in front of the television, switching it off. I nonchalantly took a sip of my root beer.

"Hi, Slen." I told him. He switched his gaze from the black television screen to me. He stood about six foot four today. Depending on how he felt on a specific day his height was affected. He stood in my living room, studying the still bare apartment.

"When did you call for your furniture?" He asked, taking a seat on the ground next to my bean bag chair. I smiled at him.

"A few weeks ago. I'll get it when I get it." I told him, I have always been patient. "I mean it isn't like if I don't get my furniture I can't just buy more. I just work at the library to have something to do instead sitting around all day." I told him. I know it sounded spoiled. But it was true. I took another bite of my pizza. I went and got a paper plate and put a slice or two on it and sat on the bean bag chair next to him and took a bite of the amazing pizza. He watched me in curiosity. I remember the conversations we had when I was a child. They weren't awkward or uncomfortable like they are now. I assumed that when I was a child, he didn't want to talk about what he was so he didn't want me to bring it up, so Slender kept the conversation himself. Now he expected me to ask questions or make the conversation. I started back at him as I chewed thoughtfully. I remembered the day we met, the first day I gazed upon that white blank face.

_I joyously ran to the tree, Daddy had finally allowed me go out to the woods. I was a happy little five year old. Daddy was busy with helping Mommy and Kenai, even though my brother hadn't yet arrived he was causing a lot of trouble for Mommy. She barely got out of bed. Daddy had told me to go outside and play, Mommy wasn't feeling very well. So I did. I enjoyed climbing trees, and I had my eyes set a new one. Was big and old and in retrospect I guess climbing the oldest tree in the forest wasn't a good idea. _

_ I stood at the base of the tree, staring up, I was looking for a good vantage point to start climbing. I found one, a branch that was broken, but it the end of the branch was laying against the ground, so in my five year old mind it was a good place to start. I jumped onto the branch, which lead up to the next one. The branch was a little shaky but not enough to be afraid of I climbed onto the next branch, this one was very shaky, and higher up than I realized, the ground was a good ten feet below. I swallowed and held onto the trunk for stability The wood creaked. I grew scared. I lowered my foot to the other branch, but the one I stood one broke. I screamed, expecting to hit the ground. _

_ Warm arms wrapped around me, catching me seven feet from the ground, keeping me from the harmful unforgiving ground below. A soft, low voice laughed, I looked to the face of my savior, only to gasp when I saw he had none. I stared._

_ "Hello there, child. What are you all by yourself out here for? Hmm? Especially someone so young. I know my kind don't leave a new being by themselves like this." He told me kindly as he set me on the ground. I craned my neck to look him in the face. He was taller than anyone I had ever seen. Even taller than Daddy. _

_ "Um." I muttered. _

_ "Oh, dear, where are my manners young one, humans aren't allowed to know my name, but you can call me-"_

_ "Tall Man." I said. He laughed again, very softly. _

_ "Alright, I am your Tall Man, mind telling me your name, small one?" He replied, offering me his very big pale hand. _

_ "Echo, my name's Echo." I told him and took his hand._

_ "Would you like to walk with me, Echo? I enjoy walking through the woods, but I think I would enjoy the company of a sweet girl as well." He told me. I smiled._

_ "Okay, Tall Man." I told him, he closed his hand around mine._

_ "Now you never answered my question, Echo. Why are you out here alone?" He asked as we started to walk through the woods. I looked up to his face. _

_ "Mommy isn't feeling very well. Daddy asked me to come outside so she can get some quiet. She's having a baby, he's a boy and Mommy and Daddy named him Kenai, but he's giving Mommy problems." I told him. He looked down at me. _

_ 'He just sent you out by yourself? What if I hadn't been passing by? You would've been out here with a broken arm for hours before you were found." Tall Man told me. I frowned. _

_ "It's okay. I- I don't really mind." I told him quietly Tall Man stopped, looking down at me. I returned his gaze. _

_ "You don't care about your own safety, child?" He asked. I shook my head _

_ "I never said that, Tall Man. I just didn't think that tree was that weak. Usually I don't climb weak trees. I just didn't know. Daddy didn't know I would get hurt. I didn't either. But thank you for saving me." I told him. He nodded._

_ "You're welcome, Echo."_


	4. Chapter 4

I was putting on a pair of purple gemmed ear-rings, I looked nice. I was going out tonight. I wasn't even in my early twenties so looking for a man to settle down this early was strange on top of being sort of asexual. I knew I was younger than most, but I wanted to know the guy for a while before I married him. I squealed as Slender appeared in the mirror behind me. I jumped hard and sat on the ground to regain my breath.

"DUDE!" I yelled at him. He laughed softly, helping me up as I started to stand; he then leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest casually as I pulled out my hair curler. I plugged it in.

"So to what do I owe the oh so pleasant surprise, Slen?" I asked. He laughed softly again, his height was a little bit taller than the other day. I knew his hunger affected his height. The hungrier he got the taller he got, becoming more and more predatory as his hunger grew. The prison had been about a month ago by now. Slen doesn't visit me every day. He popped into my apartment every three days or so, sometimes scaring the ever loving day lights out of me and others pleasantly surprising me with a gently spoken 'hello'. He almost seemed like he wanted to embrace me.

"Just the usual visit, but it seems you have plans tonight." He told me. I smiled at him softly, grabbing the now hot hair curler and started to put extremely loose curls in my hair.

"Yeah, I guess you can call them plans, going to a bar isn't exactly plans I guess. I can't drink legally, but I can get in. To be honest I'm not really even sure why I am going. I can't stay home every night." I told him, pulling the curler from my hair. The dark chocolate curl was soft and shiny. I loved my hair. I liked everything about me though. From my teeth, which were straight and white my hair always had a glossy shine. The thing I loved most about me though was my eyes. They were an intense aquamarine that allowed me to make people I didn't like feel really uncomfortable.

"Then why are you going to a bar. Why not come to the woods?" He asked, I tried to ignore the fact he leaned in a little closer. I smiled at his reflection in the mirror.

"And you don't have to paint yourself either." He told me, pushing my make-up bag aside. I looked at him, truly him, not just his reflection.

"You don't like make-up?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I don't believe you need it. You're naturally beautiful. And I mean stunning. Other human women wear make-up to enhance their features, you truly have no reason for it." Slender told me preemptively. I smiled.

"What phase is the moon in tonight?" I asked him.

"Waxing crescent. Why?" He replied.

"Just wanting to know, I like moonlit walks, Slender." I told him. He laughed softly again, crossing his arms over his chest.

'I'm well aware of your walks." He told me. I knit my brows.

"How? I was too afraid to go out at night whether you were there or not when I was a child." I told him. Slender laughed again.

"People like you tend to enjoy moonlit walks, particularly in the forest. It's part of the effect I have on people." He replied. I nodded.

"Yeah. You know I searched that, it's called Slender sickness. Apparently it should be a lot worse than what I have." Slender shook his head as I unplugged the hair curler.

"It varies. Half the people who claim they have 'slender sickness' have never even really seen me. They just want to, so they take some of the worst accounts they can find and claim they have it on the internet. A sort of cry for attention." He told me. I shrugged, putting it away and taking out my ear rings. I pulled out a hair band and pulled my hair back. I looked to him.

"Alright, can we go?" I asked. He nodded and gave me his hand. I smiled and took his hand. In a second I was in the cool crisp summer air of the woods, a few scattered silvery blue rays of moonlight filtered in through the tree canopy. It was nice and quiet. I could hear a few footsteps in the forest around us, which I assumed there was wildlife of the forest. I realized Slender towered over me. I took a step back and looked at him in the face.

"Slen?" I asked. He looked to me, tilting his head.

"What is it, Echo?" Slen asked. I blinked at him a few times.

"Um, you've just gotten taller." I told him. His mouth appeared, I saw his smile now, it was a little terrifying with his sharp, sharp teeth. He just looked sinister. I realized he was kind of bent over too.

"I am taller because I can be, Echo. I would prefer to be as close to my natural height as possible , but I simply just can't in your apartment. I don't wish to threaten you." He told me. I smiled a little nervously.

"Oh, okay." I told him, hugging myself. It was summer but it was still a little chilly. I looked at him in wonder. How could he be so kind to me but still seems so terrifying? Because I never said Slender didn't creep me out just a little. He was very kind and very gentlemanly, but his entire demeanor…it was creepy. I didn't want him to leave me alone, but sometimes he was scary. Especially his teeth.

"Now, would you like to walk?" He asked. I nodded. We started down the barely visible path. I felt safe, because I knew Slender was the most dangerous thing in the forest Slen was so tall, it literally took at least two of me to make his one height.

"Slen?" I asked.

"Yes, Echo?" He replied.

"Is that like your legit entire height, or is that just a more comfortable height that you like in the forest?" I asked him.

"It is my, I suppose, natural height. But unlike humans, my height is not a fixed point about my physical being." He told me.

"Oh, okay. What exactly are you, Slen? If you aren't human, or at least used to be human, that means you're not, well, human." I laughed at my redundant question. Slen laughed softly as well.

"Slenderfolk. I'm not alone in my species. There are hundreds of us. Slenderfolk are everywhere in the world. All seven continents, even Antarctica, some of us are punishers of humans so we are near humans, others are just mere bystanders, or studiers, some of the Slenderfolk are researchers of the human race. I have brothers, each one of them is a studier of the human race. I am the only one of my family that was a punisher." He told me. I tilted my head.

"Really? That's very interesting. But, why? What do the Slenderfolk want with us?" I asked "What are Slenderfolk?" I asked.

"Observers. We are advanced humans, very advanced. A few steps ahead of Homo sapiens. Why shouldn't we? If we were to make contact with just any human, they would try to wipe my kind out. You humans do not like to co-exist. So we keep to ourselves, selecting only a few humans to make contact with" He told me. I looked at him.

"What kind of humans, what sets them apart from the rest?" I asked.

"Ones like you. With open minds, ones not afraid of things they don't understand. If you were just like those other humans, you would have long since attempted to get rid of me, would you have not? As soon as you got old enough to realize, if you stayed with me then what would you have done?" He asked. I looked to the ground.

"I-I don't know." I replied.

"Good." He told me I looked at him with a strange look.

"How is that good?" I asked. Slender chuckled again, holding his arms in a casual fashion

"You have doubt. Would you have tried to kill me? Or would you have just preferred me leave?" Slen asked. I frowned thoughtfully; I hummed as well, looking up at the canopy.

"So, there are different types of Slenderfolk. Is there a sort of caste system? Like certain types are more respected than others?" I asked. Slender was quiet.

"Not exactly a caste system. Slenderfolk are separated into two types; the High Council that gives us our jobs, and the followers." He told me.

"Oh. How long do you live? Or are you like immortal?" I asked him.

'What is with all the question about my kind, Echo?" He asked, with a strange almost happy tone of voice.

"Well you know a lot about humans, don't you? Why can't one human know a thing or two about Slenderfolk?" I replied. He nodded.

"Fair enough. Slenderfolk are not immortal, but from a human point of view we could be. I have seen throughout history. Have you ever done research on me?" He asked. I nodded.

"Ever seen the pictures, the old pictures, black and white?" Slen continued. I nodded.

"Like World War eras. And earlier. You're seen with a lot of soldiers." I told him. Slen nodded.

"Exactly. Some stories from wars have not been told. The soldiers I have been seen with, they did some very terrible things. I was appointed to punish them because the High Council appointed them unworthy of continuing with life. I've been around for quite a long time. I am older than 450 years old." He told me. I stared at him.

"450?" I asked in shock. Slender laughed gently.

"Echo that is actually young for Slenderfolk. We live for a very long time, Echo." He told me. I stuttered a little.

"Wow." I said. "Young?" I asked Slen nodded.

"Holy Cow." I muttered. I barely wrapped my head around it.

"So, since the fifteen hundreds?" I asked.

"Yes, Echo. I was born in Germany." He told me. I nodded.

"Thank you for telling me these things, I never really thought that you would be so open with someone like this." I told him. Slen nodded.

"You're special Echo." He told me.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the late update everybody. Next installment will hopefully be on schedule.**

Echo looked lovely as he watched her. Slender did not want to interrupt her but he did not want to trust her to the human men that went to the local bar. She had no idea what she was, thinking she was asexual for not being attracted to human males, or even females. Slender wondered how he was going to tell her that she was a Slenderfolk fledgling. He appeared in her bathroom at her side, frightening her on accident. He laughed inwardly. The two held a pleasant little conversation and he convinced her to come to the woods. To be honest he didn't want any human men to see her looking this lovely. The two walked in the woods as she timidly asked Slender about him and his kind, being thoroughly surprised when she learned about how old he was. But she was unaware of the natural fear that was making her shy away from him.

The two approached a river. It cut through the town and made its way into the surrounding forest. Slender liked to spend most of his time here. Animals usually convened here and he rather liked their company. The only creatures animals feared were the humans. Slenderfolk and animals got along rather kindly. Deer usually allowed him to pet them.

Echo latched onto his arm instinctively as they heard the pained roar of a mountain lion. This grabbed his attention.

"What was that?" Echo asked quietly.

"Woodland creature sounds as though it got in a trap. Hunters are always leaving traps around for animals to get into and slowly suffer until the hunters return to kill it. Let's go. I like to free it. I believe in the chase and kill. What human hunters do with these traps is positively cruel; at least I give my prey the chance to escape." He said. Echo stared at him; she was so small, having to crane her neck to look Slender in the face. It amused him; most fledglings were at least six feet. Echo was a whopping five foot five inches. He found her precious.

Slender led the way off the path, bending down occasionally to avoid a head on collision with a low hanging branch. He followed the current and came to the poor suffering animal. He grew angry at the sight of this and henceforth his tendrils shot from his back, quivering with irritation.

"Stay back. I'll be alright if the creature attacks me, but I don't want you to get hurt, alright, Echo?" He asked, turning to look at her. She nodded. Echo's eyes were wide with wonder and fear, this dampened his spirit. There was a reason fledglings were taken at young age, so they could get used to the Slenderfolk. Slender feared that perhaps it was too late for Echo. She may have been too humanized by now. He slowly approached the wounded lion and knelt in front of it. He studied the trap, and then bent the clamps back, freeing the mountain lion. Slender quickly took a hold of the lion's foot and healed it before the big cat ran off.

Slender returned to Echo. She had a bright smile on her face.

"And they say you're pure evil…" Echo told him teasingly. Slender shook his head, looking at his hands, they were cut from the teeth of the trap. Slender willed them to heal, watching the bites shrink and fade away.

"To everyone else I really am." He told her. Echo paused, gazing at him curiously. Her mouth was slightly agape and a shaft of moonlight had fallen upon her face, illuminating her in a mysteriously beautiful way.

"Then why me? What makes me so special?" She asked, her eyes glittering with curiosity again and her head titling.

"Another story for another day, Echo, time to get you home." Slender told her, extending his hand out to her.

He watched her walk back to her apartment from work the next day. Echo walked everywhere. He didn't like that. Echo was gorgeous, and some human males didn't know not to take what wasn't rightfully theirs. He secretly followed her to make sure Echo was safe, the last things Slender wanted was the fledgling traumatized or hurt. So he was with her a lot more than what she thought.

Slender breathed a sigh of relief when Echo go into her apartment. That was something else about her that puzzled him. She was a fledgling of Slenderkind. Echo shouldn't enjoy living in an apartment, especially one within city limits. But there she was…blissfully entering her apartment. Slender had wrongly assumed that once she got into town she would start looking for a place to live near the woods away from the hustle and bustle of Haven Junction. She was content in her apartment, the only time she really ever got irritated with it is when her neighbors get disruptive.

Echo put the bag of fast food on the counter. She never cooked but she could. When she was invited to a friend's for dinner Echo would make an entrée or side dish to take with her; otherwise her kitchen utensils were never used. This was on account of the fact that Echo hated doing the dishes.

She spent two hours at the gym to cancel out all the fast food and soda she ate and drank. Echo didn't know it but the hours at the gym were unnecessary. Being a fledgling of Slender's kind she was actually consuming less than what she needed, which was why she was always grazing, fresh vegetables were her favorite snack.

Echo took her supper out of the bag, stuffing a few fries rather unceremoniously in her mouth she turned on the television and sat own in her green bean bag chair. Slender left her to herself, his own hunger demanding to be extinguished with a knot boiling in the pit of his stomach and he growled. He didn't hunt just anybody, only human monstrosities. He found himself regretting clearing out that prison so fast. Sometimes he let his instincts get the best of him…

So Slender went to the run down part of Haven Junction. If any human was caught in the act of a rape, murder, or abuse, Slender had permission to immediately kill. The streets were crowded but where Slender was going after dark it wasn't a good idea to be out. In cities areas like this were his hunting ground. He Slenderwalked to the run down outskirts of the town, where back alleys crisscrossed and twisted into a bit of a labyrinth were scum liked to wander. Sometimes he got lucky here, and others, there were minor crimes, but nothing that would give him permission to kill and devour without being prosecuted by his people. But tonight was a good night. The scream of a woman rang into the night. Slender's attention perked and he went off after his future meal.

Coming around the corner he discovered a man pushing woman against the wall, Slender appeared into the material plane and sent his tendrils after the offender. They twisted around the man's neck and tore him from the woman. She screamed in fear and ran. Slender slammed the human male against the walls of the abandoned buildings. Hard enough to do damage and cause fear but not to kill. Slender preferred his meals with fear and adrenaline running through its blood. He let the human fall to the ground, allowing it to run, to let the fear build, he waited for a few moments, tracking the pounding footfalls that reverberated through the alleys.

Punishers like him survived off of fear. The more fear the more energy but punishers ran through energy fast. The longer he waited, the less he could control himself. The more he put Echo in danger. She may have been a fledgling, but on a few accounts, she had made his mouth water. Like when they first got into the forest the other day… fear had been seeping from every pore and smelled tantalizing. He still felt ashamed about it.

Slender went after the human, appearing in the corner of his vision; causing more and more terror to course through his prey. He appeared twice directly in front of the human, once causing him to fall back, that was when Slender ended the hunt, he leapt upon his prey.

Echo looked up from the laptop screen as she heard a knock on the door. She closed the computer and placed it aside, standing up she went to answer the door. Checking the peep hole she saw her neighbors, Jenny, and her husband, Roger, both looked well dressed. Echo answered the door with a smile on her face.

"Hello you two! Looking very nice, going on a date? You two need it after taking care of little Robin." She told them warmly. Jenny smiled with a nod.

"Yes, but the baby sitter cancelled last minute, could you watch Robin for us? You're the only person I trust with her right now." Jenny replied.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I'd love to, any instructions?" Echo asked. Jenny nodded.

"Yes, they're on the counter. Thank you so much." She told Echo.

"I need to turn off my TV, but I'll go right over, so go on." Echo told Jenny, waving her blonde neighbor off. Jenny nodded and turned to her husband and the two went disappeared down the hall. Echo went into her apartment and turned off the television, grabbed her phone and went to her neighbor's apartment across the hall, she found it unlocked and went on in, going to the counter and picking up the instructions.

_Robin is already in bad; if she wakes up just go hold her and rock her gently until she falls back asleep. You can watch the TV, but no pay-per-view please, don't record anything either. Help yourself to the sodas in the fridge. There are snack packets in the cabinet too. Thank you. _

Echo tuned and went over to the couch and turned on the television, turning down the volume. Echo mainly watched cartoons or crime dramas, she didn't like the shows that most people her age watched. She thought they were trashy, too much alcohol and stupidity.

She was watching Tom and Jerry when she went to check on Robin. The sweet squishy little girl was still asleep. Echo smiled and returned to the living room, she jumped when she saw Slen standing in the living room.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked her, Echo put her finger to her lips.

"Babysitting. She's asleep, so please be a little quieter. I'm not afraid of taking care of a crying infant, but I don't want her to start and disturb the complex." She whispered, sitting down. Slen nodded and took a seat in the arm chair. The television screen was snowy for a few moments while it adjusted to Slen's appearance, but eventually evened out and Tom and Jerry continued on with their funny yet violent antics.

Robin woke at about ten, crying softly, Echo stood up and went to the nursery. She bent down and picked up the wiggly baby girl, cooing soothingly to her. As Echo brought Robin close to her the baby stopped crying. She smiled at the little girl; she did always have a way with children. The baby soon went back to sleep and Echo put her back down in the crib. Echo reentered the living room to see Slen gone and Roger and Jenny entering the apartment. Echo smiled at them.

"Hey you two! Robin was great, she woke up just a few minutes ago, but she went back to sleep real quick." Echo told them Jenny nodded.

"Thanks Echo, this meant a lot to us." Jenny said, taking Echo's hand in a friendly way. Echo squeezed hers then let go.

"I'm going to go back to my apartment now, Good Night." Echo said, leaving the apartment and going home. She went to her bedroom and got into some pajamas, settled down in her nest and went off to sleep.


End file.
